Are you one of “those” who very rarely cries?
Welcome to my world.
And, if you’re one of “those” who hears a song or a tune that causes goosebumps or a symphony of pain in the stomach, then keep reading.
I’ve written below some songs — that over the years have always touched a cord in my soul, the combination of words, instruments and the way they’re sung are arresting in their own way. There are many others out there of course, but these are a few of my personal favorites which always bring me to tears, as I trust they will for you too: (headphones are advised).
1: LIFEHOUSE, SIMON
Catch your breath, hit the wall
Scream out loud as you start to crawl
Back in your cage, the only place
Where they will leave you aloneBecause the weak will seek the weaker ’til they’ve broken them
Could you get it back again? Would it be the same?
Fulfillment to their lack of strength at your expense
Left you with no defense
They tore it down…
It’s not just the words for me in this one, it’s the way they put the whole song and tunes together… the synthesizer.. guitar and entrance of the electric guitar turns it into one of those ‘WOW’ songs, that unexpectedly pierces the soul. The lead singer, Jason Wade, says he wrote it about a friend who was bullied in school and how he felt the same emotions of how he must’ve felt.
For me, I first heard this not long after the hardest break-up of my life.. that first ‘true-love’ break-up when I was 24. I just wanted to be left alone… It also brings up all the times where it felt it really was me against the world! This song not only brings me back to those memories but it also shows me how far I’ve come, and how much I’ve grown. It is just jarringly beautiful..!
2: BREAKING BENJAMIN, ASHES OF EDEN
Will the faithful be rewarded
When we come to the end?
Will I miss the final warning
From the lie that I have lived?
Is there anybody calling?
I can see the soul within
And I am not worthy
I am not worthy of thisAre you with me after all?
Why can’t I hear you?
Are you with me through it all?
Then why can’t I feel you…?
(Bring on the violins and I’m all in…)
Curt Kobain once said that everyone must find their own meanings in the songs they hear, everyone has their own translation. What the lead singer of Breaking Benjamin - Benjamin Burnley wrote about this song is that: “It’s a “sort of a modern sci-fi take on Adam and Eve,” in which two astronauts are separated from their ship and “plummet to a water planet where their ashes turn to the building blocks for life as we know it on earth.”
I ‘feel’ it’s about love, being abandoned, and the loss of loved ones. It definitely brings up memories of people I’ve lost in life. About a minute in, enter the violins and the composition with all the other instruments, along with his incredible voice = POWERFUL..
3: ROB THOMAS, ALL THAT I AM
I am the sound of love’s arriving
Echoed softly on the sand
Lay your head upon my shoulder
Lay your hand within my hand
I give you all that I am
And I breathe where you breathe
Let me stand where you stand
With all that I am…
In my humble opinion, this right here is one of those songs that you feel breathes life and the meaning of love into your soul…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oV_CnsuexcQ
4: Linkin Park, Krwlng
Discomfort endlessly has pulled itself upon me
Distracting, reacting
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection
It’s haunting how I can’t seemTo find myself again
My walls are closing in
(Without a sense of confidence I’m convinced that there’s just too much pressure to take)
I’ve felt this way before
So insecure…
Come on — who doesn’t love Linkin Park and miss the voice of Chester? Knowing the history of who he was and what he went through in his younger years is devastating… He is one of the rare few I cried for, for a long time after hearing about his death, and I still do from time to time whenever I hear this particular version of ‘Krwlng’, with the start of the Cello.. sigh…
This was released in 2002, and the way Chester's voice was enhanced like the voice box of a Robot, along with guest vocals of Aaron Lewis from Staind, brought in something unique to this one, it was clever considering that was when our digital age was just taking off!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfviFOcnlew
I’m not done yet.
5: Now, here, we have an EPIC, DARK and INCREDIBLY sad, yet BEAUTIFUL song all blurred into 1.
If you haven’t already heard ‘The Sound of Silence’, by Disturbed, which was originally ‘The Sounds of Silence’, written and performed by Paul Simon & Garfunkel in 1966, then I urge you to do so.
When you listen to the more recent versions, particularly the live performance by Disturbed, which was sung by Myles Kennedy and David Draiman.. I have NEVER heard/seen such an INCREDIBLE performance! Quite honestly, they are 2 of my top 10 most incredible male singers on this planet:
“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence….”
Overall, it’s about how we’ve stopped listening to each other — I’ve found this to be an indisputable truth — more so in recent years.
When you feel low, when nothing is working and you’re meandering aimlessly along… It’s songs like these that help me to tune out to the noise of the world and just listen. When the suffocation threatens to overwhelm, just cry.. release the old, and when once liberated, you can breathe and begin again.
Happy World Music Day ;)
